TG Daily reports that Microsoft’s share of the Internet browser market has fallen below 70% after peaking at almost 97% share in 2003. This massive shift in browser share over just that last 4 years has huge implications for video game companies that have any kind of web presence, in particular those that launched games in 2008 that were built on 2004 assumptions when development started. Even new web portals coming online now seem to have been designed with the thought that Internet Explorer is the only browser they needed to code and QA for (which practically every Asian video game operator has done and most of the big publishers like EA).
The article has additional insight into Microsoft’s declining market share including the fact that all of those IE 6 users showing up on your Google Analytics reports are likely corporate users and that the ability of Microsoft to stem the tide of loss is not certain. Microsoft could be heading quickly to less than 50% share as corporations eye the safer and faster open source Firefox browser (not to forget that Google recently announced Chrome their own entry in the browser war arena).
Microsoft losing ground in the browser wars also has significant implications for the future of their cloud-based businesses. Most cloud offerings are going to be sensitive to browser capabilities including JavaScript execution speed and security. Microsoft will undoubtedly continue their practice of offering non-IE users reduced functionality when they try to access cloud services built or operated with Microsoft technologies, which means that as of today, 30% of Internet users are going to have a less than ideal experience with more pain to come.
The article also points out that Microsoft’s operating system share has fallen below 90% for the first time since 1994 – when Windows 3.1.1 hit the streets. Now 90% sounds like a big number but it means that in 2009, just in the U.S., well over 6 million new PCs (desktops and laptops) will ship with something other than Windows installed. That is 6 million new low hanging fruit customers dying for a great video game experience online and off (half of them Apple users with great video cards). The slide for Microsoft’s OS does not appear to be slowing down either, which means that by the end of 2012 Microsoft’s OS market share could fall to 80%.
Considering it takes 3 years to bring a AAA title to market, anyone kicking off a new project should be thinking about the 20 to 25 million PCs that will not be running Windows in 2012, all less than 4 years old (again that is just in the U.S., international online video game publishers could be facing 150 million non-Windows PCs less than 4 years old in 2012 – and that is assuming piracy keeps Windows free in a large portion of the World). Plus, you need to be thinking of a way to get a AAA title to market in less than 3 years.
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